Just weeks after a 2022 schedule was announced, and after just one year, the IMS Outdoors powersports expo tour event series in the US has been cancelled. The series was a 'rescue' iteration of the venerable indoor, winter, expo center based International Motorcycle Shows programme that had been staged by Advanstar in leading domestic US markets such as LA, New York and Chicago for some 40 years. It looks like current series owner Informa (a UK based media and events conglomerate) has finally figured out that the world is a changed place!
Energica Motor Company (Italy) has signed E-ZY Move of Herault (Aude, Pyrenees Orientales) in France as a new dealer. With headquarters in Cap d'Adge (and soon to also open in Montpellier) E-ZY Move is a specialised electric two-wheeled vehicles sale and rental operator. In 2021, registrations of electric motorcycles in France grew by 61%, compared to a European average of 28%.
After spy shots were seen last year, BMW has now filed a patent for a spring and wind pressure based system of 'adaptive aero' moving bodywork. Unlike some of the electronic systems seen on some models (such as from E-bike manufacturer Damon in Canada) and the movable fairing panels on the Moto Guzzi V100 Mandello, the BMW system patents the concept of bodywork components "popping out" on springs. The panels then rely on the increased wind pressure as the speed increases to push them back in, closer to the bike.
Ducati has finally been able to re-open the doors of its Borgo Panigale Museum and run Factory visits full-time (closed Wednesdays). To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the 1972 Imola 200 won by Paul Smart, the museum is temporarily hosting the rider's '750 Imola' bike.
Yamaha Motors' President Yoshihiro Hidaka has gone on the record to state that, in his view, the priorities of the market should be Biofuel first, EV second, saying that "CO2 may be treated as a 'Bad Thing', but I believe that the engine itself is not." Those remarks came in a magazine interview and followed the news that Yamaha and, initially, Kawasaki are to invest heavily in exploring the potential of hydrogen power for PTWs. Honda and Suzuki are expected to come on-board with the research effort before too long.
The NHTSA in the United States has issued what it is referencing as "final rules" for fully autonomous vehicle manufactures. There is a big, fundamental change. The new "rules" roll back the requirement previously stipulated within SAE J3016 for Level 5 full-time autonomy to still have controls for human override. That requirement has now been eliminated, meaning that vehicle manufacturers are not compelled to equip fully autonomous vehicles with manual driving controls in order to meet crash standards. General Motors Co. and its self-driving technology unit Cruise petitioned the NHTSA for permission to build and deploy a self-driving vehicle without human controls such as steering wheels or brake pedals. The rules revise regulations that assume vehicles "will always have a driver's seat, a steering wheel and accompanying steering column, or just one front outboard passenger seating position," according to the NHTSA.
Airoh has signed as the main FIM ISDE Partner for a further three years, having first teamed up with the series in 2015. In 2022 the Six Days will take place in France, at Le Puy-En-Velay, from the 29th August - 3rd September. Airoh will be the first-ever naming rights sponsor of the ISDE.
The Moto Guzzi Museum in Mandello Del Lario is reopening. Situated at Moto Guzzi's historic home on the shores of Lake Como, the collection has been completely and conservatively restored, the rooms renovated and the visitor experience completely redesigned.
Sources: AMD, IDN, FT, Reuters, PSB, MPN, BDN, MCN, AP, Bloomberg, MSNW, Electrek, electricmotorcycles.news, RideApart.com, Motor1.com, Cycle World, motorbikewriter.com
